Little Action After Lots of Green TalkIn Search of Quiet PlacesUnderground Diner Supports Local FarmersEmotions Run High Over Dam Removal QuestionsInvasive Species and Toxic ChemicalsSelling Asian Carp to ChinaOil Spill Creates Manufacturing BoomRenewable Rule & Veggie Shapes
Host: Lester Graham
Show date: 05/06/2009
Summary:
The Obama Administration wants us
all to use more bio-fuels in our
cars and trucks. Lester takes a
look at what it might mean.
And... what if the slice of tomato
on your summer sandwich was square?
Julie Grant met one scientist who has
discovered a way to make that happen.
More…
More bio-fuels by the billions of gallons.
This is The Environment Report. I’m Lester Graham.
The Obama administration wants us all to use more ethanol and bio-diesel in our fuel tanks...
Lisa Jackson is the Adminstrator of the Envrionmental Protection Agency.
“Under the proposed rule, the total volume of renewable fuel ramps up to a maximum of 36-billion gallons by 2022.”
This year it jumps to 9 billion gallons… up from 5.4 under the existing rule.
But for the first time renewable fuels will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Bob Dinneen is the President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association. That’s the trade group for the ethanol industry. He says when you take into account fueld used to plant the corn, harvest it, turn it into fuel, transport it and burn the ethanol – it’s still emits 61-percent less carbon than using petroleum. But the government wants to also calculate indirect effects. For example… U.S. corn that’s used for fuel instead of exported to other countries could mean those countries slash and burn rainforest to grow corn. He’s concerned about how the government goes about calculating that larger carbon footprint.
“But we believe when that is better understood, ethanol is going to continue to demonstrate significant carbon benefits.”
The government will hear about their concerns and others during a 60-day comment period.
(((STING)))
This is The Environment Report. Vegetables can be really odd shapes. But what if you could alter fruits and vegetables into just about any shape you wanted. Some avid gardeners come up with strange looking hybrids… but Julie Grant talked with a researcher who’s taking the shape of produce to a whole new level….
Ester van der Knapp steps gingerly around the greenhouse. We’re at the Ohio State Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster. The plants here are as tall as we are. Van Der Knapp points out short, round tomatoes – and some odd-looking long, thin ones.
VAN DER KNAPP: THAT’S ONE GENE. ONE GENE CAN MAKE THAT DIFFERENCE. [:04]
Van der Knapp’s team discovered that gene and isolated it. They call it the SUN gene. And they’ve been able to clone it in tomatoes.
VAN DER KNAPP: YOU SEE THIS ONE IS PRETTY ROUND. IT DOES NOT HAVE THE SUN GENE. AND THAT FIRST ONE MAKES A VERY ELONGATED FRUIT, AND IT DOES HAVE THE SUN GENE. [:09]
Van der Knapp’s research could lead to square-shapes – something she thinks the tomato industry might like. Square tomatoes fit into packages better. And overall—square tomatoes might be easier to work with than the common round tomatoes.
VAN DER KNAPP: THEY ARE MECHANICALLY HARVESTED. SO IF YOU HAVE A VERY ROUND TOMATO, IT WOULD ROLL OFF CONVEYER BELTS, IT’S NOT VERY HANDY. [:06]
So far money for her research has come from the National Science Foundation – not big ag.
Van Der Kapp is quick to note… her tomatoes are not genetically modified. You might remember the Calgene tomato which was made firmer by manipulating the tomato genes with a gene from chickens. She’s just isolating the genes that affect the shape of the tomatoes. Turning them on or off alters the shape.
Designer fruit shapes are gaining popularity.
Check out any seed catalogue, and there’s a huge variety - some large and segmented, some pear-shaped, some oval, some resembling chilli peppers.
People have been – cross-breeding tomatoes to make the shapes they want for a long time. But this is NOT the same thing.
ALFORD: IT’S JUST FUNNY, ‘CAUSE MY BROTHER WAS WORKING WITH SOME GENETIC THINGS WITH TOMATOES IN OUR ATTIC. [:08]
Dick Alford is a chef and professor of hospitality management at the University of Akron. The difference between what his brother – and lots of other folks have been doing – and what van der Knapp is doing is the difference between cross-breeding and locating a specific gene that affects the shape of tomatoes. The only other gene like this that’s been found so far was discovered by van der Knapp’s advisor at Cornell University.
[sound: kitchen, cutting veg]
Chef Alford watches students as they cut yellow crookneck squash and carrots. They’re trying to make uniform, symmetrical shapes out of curvy and pointed vegetables. There’s a lot of waste. Chef Alford hates to see so much get thrown away. So he’s got a request of Dr. van der Knapp:
ALFORD: IF WE COULD GET SQUARE CARROTS, IT WOULD BE GREAT. IF YOU COULD GET A NICE LONG, A TOMATO AS LONG AS A CUCUMBER, YOU COULD GET 20 OR 30 SLICES, IT WOULD BE GREAT.
In a country that loves hamburgers, Van der Knapp has heard that request before. But the long, thin tomato hasn’t worked out just yet. She says there’s more genetics to be studied.
Once we know all the genes responsible for making different shapes in tomatoes, Van der Knapp says we’ll have a better idea of what controls the shape of other crops, such peppers, cucumbers and gourds. And maybe then we’ll get those square carrots.
You can let us know what you think about tube-shaped tomatoes and square carrots… drop us a line at feedback @ environmentreport.org.
I’m Lester Graham.
blog comments powered by Disqus
This is The Environment Report. I’m Lester Graham.
The Obama administration wants us all to use more ethanol and bio-diesel in our fuel tanks...
Lisa Jackson is the Adminstrator of the Envrionmental Protection Agency.
“Under the proposed rule, the total volume of renewable fuel ramps up to a maximum of 36-billion gallons by 2022.”
This year it jumps to 9 billion gallons… up from 5.4 under the existing rule.
But for the first time renewable fuels will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Bob Dinneen is the President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association. That’s the trade group for the ethanol industry. He says when you take into account fueld used to plant the corn, harvest it, turn it into fuel, transport it and burn the ethanol – it’s still emits 61-percent less carbon than using petroleum. But the government wants to also calculate indirect effects. For example… U.S. corn that’s used for fuel instead of exported to other countries could mean those countries slash and burn rainforest to grow corn. He’s concerned about how the government goes about calculating that larger carbon footprint.
“But we believe when that is better understood, ethanol is going to continue to demonstrate significant carbon benefits.”
The government will hear about their concerns and others during a 60-day comment period.
(((STING)))
This is The Environment Report. Vegetables can be really odd shapes. But what if you could alter fruits and vegetables into just about any shape you wanted. Some avid gardeners come up with strange looking hybrids… but Julie Grant talked with a researcher who’s taking the shape of produce to a whole new level….
Ester van der Knapp steps gingerly around the greenhouse. We’re at the Ohio State Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster. The plants here are as tall as we are. Van Der Knapp points out short, round tomatoes – and some odd-looking long, thin ones.
VAN DER KNAPP: THAT’S ONE GENE. ONE GENE CAN MAKE THAT DIFFERENCE. [:04]
Van der Knapp’s team discovered that gene and isolated it. They call it the SUN gene. And they’ve been able to clone it in tomatoes.
VAN DER KNAPP: YOU SEE THIS ONE IS PRETTY ROUND. IT DOES NOT HAVE THE SUN GENE. AND THAT FIRST ONE MAKES A VERY ELONGATED FRUIT, AND IT DOES HAVE THE SUN GENE. [:09]
Van der Knapp’s research could lead to square-shapes – something she thinks the tomato industry might like. Square tomatoes fit into packages better. And overall—square tomatoes might be easier to work with than the common round tomatoes.
VAN DER KNAPP: THEY ARE MECHANICALLY HARVESTED. SO IF YOU HAVE A VERY ROUND TOMATO, IT WOULD ROLL OFF CONVEYER BELTS, IT’S NOT VERY HANDY. [:06]
So far money for her research has come from the National Science Foundation – not big ag.
Van Der Kapp is quick to note… her tomatoes are not genetically modified. You might remember the Calgene tomato which was made firmer by manipulating the tomato genes with a gene from chickens. She’s just isolating the genes that affect the shape of the tomatoes. Turning them on or off alters the shape.
Designer fruit shapes are gaining popularity.
Check out any seed catalogue, and there’s a huge variety - some large and segmented, some pear-shaped, some oval, some resembling chilli peppers.
People have been – cross-breeding tomatoes to make the shapes they want for a long time. But this is NOT the same thing.
ALFORD: IT’S JUST FUNNY, ‘CAUSE MY BROTHER WAS WORKING WITH SOME GENETIC THINGS WITH TOMATOES IN OUR ATTIC. [:08]
Dick Alford is a chef and professor of hospitality management at the University of Akron. The difference between what his brother – and lots of other folks have been doing – and what van der Knapp is doing is the difference between cross-breeding and locating a specific gene that affects the shape of tomatoes. The only other gene like this that’s been found so far was discovered by van der Knapp’s advisor at Cornell University.
[sound: kitchen, cutting veg]
Chef Alford watches students as they cut yellow crookneck squash and carrots. They’re trying to make uniform, symmetrical shapes out of curvy and pointed vegetables. There’s a lot of waste. Chef Alford hates to see so much get thrown away. So he’s got a request of Dr. van der Knapp:
ALFORD: IF WE COULD GET SQUARE CARROTS, IT WOULD BE GREAT. IF YOU COULD GET A NICE LONG, A TOMATO AS LONG AS A CUCUMBER, YOU COULD GET 20 OR 30 SLICES, IT WOULD BE GREAT.
In a country that loves hamburgers, Van der Knapp has heard that request before. But the long, thin tomato hasn’t worked out just yet. She says there’s more genetics to be studied.
Once we know all the genes responsible for making different shapes in tomatoes, Van der Knapp says we’ll have a better idea of what controls the shape of other crops, such peppers, cucumbers and gourds. And maybe then we’ll get those square carrots.
You can let us know what you think about tube-shaped tomatoes and square carrots… drop us a line at feedback @ environmentreport.org.
I’m Lester Graham.